Windows tip: If you want to speed up the time it takes you to run a small utility, launch your favorite applications, or open your todo.txt document, Windows has a great feature built in for creating a keyboard shortcut that will launch anything.

Here's how it works:

Right-click the to-be-shortcutted file or application and select Create shortcut.

Move that shortcut anywhere you want. In the example above, I put mine in a folder, called keyboard shortcuts, specifically to manage these sorts of shortcuts from one place. (This step is entirely optional; you could just leave the shortcut in the same folder.)

Right-click the shortcut and select Properties. In the Shortcut tab of the Properties dialog, click in the Shortcut key input and type your preferred shortcut. Cick OK.

If all you want is to launch apps that you've already got pinned to your Windows 7 task bar, keep in mind that you can also press Win+1, 2, 3, 4, etc., to launch the corresponding pinned app from left to right. I've personally never liked using numbered keyboard shortcuts, and instead opt for creating shortcuts using the method above so I can associate words with the shortcut. For example, in the video I chose Ctrl+Shift+K because I'm Killing my LCD.

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UPDATE: As a few commenters have pointed out, the way these shortcuts work is slightly more complicated than I'd remembered. From Microsoft:

Shortcut keys work differently depending on the location of the shortcut. If the shortcut is on the desktop or in the Start menu hierarchy, you can use its shortcut key to start the assigned program, or switch to the program if it is already running.

If the shortcut is not on the desktop or in the Start menu hierarchy, you cannot use its shortcut key to start the assigned program, but you can use its shortcut key to switch to the assigned program if it is already running.

And that's all. As I said, not new by any means, but as Whitson demonstrated yesterday, never hurts to be reminded of a great shortcut.